1. The Break – by Audrey Owen

1. The Break

Posted by Audrey Owen on April 1, 2010

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“It’s the passaggio.”

Eliza Babbenco, draped across a velvet chaise lounge in her studio, listens intently to the headphones pressed against her ears. Recently awarded a Fellowship in Laryngology and Care of the Professional Voice from Mt. Sinai hospital, Ms. Babbenco has been the driving creative force behind some of the world’s most prominent classical vocalists for more than 30 years.

“A tenor altino, I think, very clear and quite powerful,” she said, cocking her head to one side, “with impressive control through the passaggio.”

That morning, Eliza Babbenco was listening not to a new classical artist, but to Steve Perry, former lead singer for the American rock band Journey. I called Ms. Babbenco for her professional opinion of the voice ranked number 76 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s “100 Greatest Singers of all Time”, the voice Queen guitarist Brian May called “truly luminous”.

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Continuation via : 1. The Break « Audrey Owen.

2. Suspending Disbelief « Audrey Owen

2. Suspending Disbelief

Posted by Audrey Owen on April 1, 2010

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And why now?

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s go back to the beginning, the day I got a call from Dr. Cantor Poirier, MD., about a story that, he said, just might make my career. Currently, my “career” consists of local color and police reports for a small town newspaper so I can’t afford to ignore leads; Dr. Poirier invited me to meet him at his office.

“Thank you for coming Ms. Owen.” A small man, trim and precise, gestured me to a chair. He took his own and folded his hands neatly on the desk between us. The office was small but surprisingly opulent with deep leather chairs, a richly detailed oriental rug, and exotic plants at the window to soften a ground-floor view of the parking lot.

He began by telling me that he had been asked to contact me by his colleague, a Mr. Steve Perry.

“Steve Perry… of Journey?” I asked.

“Formerly of Journey, yes.” He smiled. “That Steve Perry.”

Perry had come to his office the day before and had given him my name; he explained that Perry had been looking for a writer, a good one, without any favors to return. “A bright, open minded writer at the beginning of a promising career, that’s what we were told.”

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Continuation via 2. Suspending Disbelief « Audrey Owen.

3. Back In The Day « Audrey Owen

Audrey Owen

3. Back In The Day

Posted by Audrey Owen on April 1, 2010

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In 1980, Dr. Cantor Poirier was a General Practitioner with a solid but by no means lucrative practice in the bay area. Steve Perry met Dr. Poirier through family frends and hired him to accompany the band and crew on the Departure tour. “Beyond my general practice, I specialize in Otolaryngology; after the rigors of the Infinity and Evolution tours, Mr. Perry wanted someone on staff to monitor his vocal health.”

Dr. Poirier, a quiet and thoughtful man, felt an immediate kinship with Steve Perry. “There was always a great deal going on, and some of the other band members and crew were quite rowdy as a rule. For all his enthusiastic stage presence, Mr. Perry tends to be a reserved, thoughtful person. We soon found we had many things in common.”

Dr. Poirier traveled with the band through the Departure tour, the Escape tour of 1981, and the performances of 1982. “That was quite enough of life on the road, so I returned to my practice. I knew that the band had begun recording their next record, Frontiers, and that they were planning another tour to support it. I was a bit concerned; they had all been on the road for so very long and I thought they all, and Mr. Perry in particular, should take a break.”

As it turned out, Steve Perry had the same idea. According to Dr. Poirier, “Tensions were growing within the band, and of course he loves performing but loathes touring. He was looking ahead to long months of buses, planes and hotels, all the hours of inactivity and lack of sleep… he didn’t know if he could stand it. My concern was the risk to his vocal health, and consequently to the quality of his performances. It was my honest, professional opinion that he shouldn’t do it.”

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Continuation via:  3. Back In The Day « Audrey Owen.

4. The Perry Parade « Audrey Owen

4. The Perry Parade

Posted by Audrey Owen on April 1, 2010

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Yes, he said “they“. He did not, however, say who.

What he did say was that there had been four stand-ins at different times in Journey’s history. Perry himself performed the Japanese leg of the Frontiers tour; the stand-in began performing for the US dates. To cover any physical differences between the first and second parts of the tour, Perry and the stand-in cut their hair and grew the infamous mustaches for good measure.

The plan was for the stand-in to make themselves scarce, seemingly distant and aloof. That wasn’t too hard to fake; apparently, it wasn’t exactly a jovial atmosphere. The rest of the band complained that Steve would show up, sing, and take off again: “Elvis has left the building.” That pattern, as irritating as it may have been for the rest of the band, was absolutely key to the plan, which was for the stand-in was to handle most of the public duties, so Perry could step in for performances when the mood struck. Which, according to Dr. Poirier, was fairly frequently; he did love performing, he just couldn’t handle the demands performing at that level required.

At the end of the Frontiers tour, the stand-in returned to his other band (all Dr. Poirier would say was “a group well-known to the core Journey fans”) and Steve began work on his first solo album, Street Talk, which was released in 1984 with good prospects. Even so, the record company would not support a solo tour; they wanted Perry to return to the studio for the next Journey album, Raised on Radio.

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Continuation via:  4. The Perry Parade « Audrey Owen.

5. From Weird to Weirder « Audrey Owen

5. From Weird to Weirder

Posted by Audrey Owen on April 1, 2010

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When Dr. Poirier finished his story, I just sat there for a little while. He didn’t press for a response, which was just as well because I didn’t have one.

I could have stood up and walked out. Or called him a liar to his face. I could have gotten all upset and told him off for wasting my time. But I’ll be honest, I stayed because I was impressed.

“That is a great story. No, truly, it’s very clever! It’s improbable but not impossible… as long as I forget how ridiculous it is to think that even the best impersonator could truly pass for Steve Perry, even for Steve Perry’s on a bad night. And even if he could sound like him, it’s equally absurd to think that he would look enough like him to fool… well, he’d have to fool everyone, right?”

The doctor paused, turned his head and looked back out the window for a moment.

“Ms. Owen… do you remember when we started this conversation, and I told you that you would doubt my sanity?”

“Yes sir, I do remember that, and I must say that I am beginning to…”

He turned back and smiled, “Well, hold that thought. The most important part is still to come, but we’ll need to back up, all the way back to Pieces.”

“What the heck is ‘Pieces’?”

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Continuation via:  5. From Weird to Weirder « Audrey Owen.

6. Lightning Strikes « Audrey Owen

6. Lightning Strikes

Posted by Audrey Owen on April 1, 2010

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In 1976 a band called Pieces was trying to break into the Bay Area music scene, but with little success. One of their main assets was a singer with a solid R&B background and a great range, a guy named Steve Perry.

The band had rehearsal space in a warehouse complex, and friends would gather nightly to listen. I later found another source to validate Dr. Poirier’s version of events, an eyewitness who refused to let us use his name. Maybe it’s best to let him tell the story in his own words:

TRANSCRIPT: INTERVIEW W/ (name withheld)

INTERVIEWER: Tell me about the band, and the night you mentioned, the lightning.

RESPONDENT: It was great, man — we would hang out, listen to the band, joke around.

Steve was really funny, just a really good guy. They were working, you know, Steve

was pretty serious about it. But it was fun, too.

So one night they’re rehearsing — it was a crazy night, electrical storms. Have you

ever seen one of those? Amazing! You just don’t know the sky can do something like

that until you see it. Anyway, the band and just finishing this song, running

through it, right?

I: What happened?

R: Steve doesn’t remember, but I was there. He was singing this long note, and…

it was sort of like lightning, right? Straight through the window and hit Steve,

raising him off the ground. But lightning just cracks, ZAM! and then it’s gone;

this was sort of steady. Also, if it was lightning, Steve would have been…

I: Wait a minute…

R: No, seriously, I know how this sounds, but hear me out, ok? You said you

wanted the whole thing, and this is it.

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Continuation via:  6. Lightning Strikes « Audrey Owen.

7. The Glow « Audrey Owen

7. The Glow

Posted by Audrey Owen on April 1, 2010

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Let’s take a moment here.

Because, as Dr. Poirier himself told me, right up front, “what I have to tell you might make you wonder about my sanity. But I assure you, it is all quite true.”

I’m not saying it IS true, just as Dr. Poirier couldn’t swear to me that the levitation story was true. All I can tell you is that exactly one year ago I sat in a room with a man who appeared to be the very definition of rationality. I am pretty good at spotting the little things we all do when we’re telling stories: embellish, deflect, spin, withhold, and sometimes flat-out lie.

The man in front of me didn’t appear to be doing any of those things. I think the best way I can describe his manner is to say that he was a man telling the truth about something he’d give anything not to have to tell the truth about. He wasn’t excited or edgy or tense… I’d say his manner was resigned as he told me his version of the lightning story, the one he had heard from Perry himself, the one I later confirmed with my source.

“This was during our conversation about whether I would join them on tour. We’d been introduced by a good mutual friend, so Mr. Perry had reason to trust me when I saw his throat during a standard physical exam. I’ll tell you,” Dr, Poirier laughed, “it’s not precisely what one expects to see when one says ‘Say Ah’. The exact chemical composition I have never been able to determine. Mr. Perry and I have called it simply The Glow.”

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Continuation via:  7. The Glow « Audrey Owen.

Journey Members Headlining Charity Concert – Entertainment News Story – KPTV Portland

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PORTLAND, Ore. — Two members from the rock band Journey will perform in Portland this week at a fundraiser that hopes to bring awareness to autism.Drummer Deen Castronovo and keyboardist Jonathan Cain will take part in “A Hope For Autism,” a black-tie fundraiser at the Benson Hotel on Saturday.The duo hopes to bring a message to Oregonians and raise money to find a cure.”We’ve always been the type of band that likes to give back. And it’s real important to give back,” Castronovo said.Statistics show one out of nearly 100 children will be diagnosed with autism. Castronovo said hearing the stories of families dealing with autism strengthened his determination to help.”Oregon has one of the highest autistic rates in the country,” Castronovo said. “Anything we can do to get involved to help knock those levels down, we’ll do.”Tickets are $150 at the door or $125 if purchased before the event. Concert rock violinist Aaron Meyer will also make an appearance.

via Journey Members Headlining Charity Concert – Entertainment News Story – KPTV Portland.